At last year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, the Yes Men and the Clean Clothes Campaign staged a complex ruse to target Adidas.
The ruse was intended to highlight some of the issues the groups claim are related to outsourcing, highlight the need for multinational corporations to safeguard fundamental worker rights, and convince Adidas to mark the Spend Your Workers agreement.
A moustachioed man with a receding hair and an accent addressed the crowd in an 18-minute demonstration at last year’s Web Summit in Portugal. He talked up Adidas’s release of the” AdiVerse,” a digital playground for “faraway gown workers” that had “pay them in goals” rather than funds. He introduced himself at the occasion as” Aristide Feldholt, chief financial officer of AdiCoin.” ” Poor work conditions break open our souls, but we have no power over the companies by law, by agreement, or by design,” the imitation said.
The minimum wage was allegedly temporarily reduced by some governments in garment-producing nations in response to brand buy cancellations and subsequent failure to accept responsibility for their employees, according to a press release released on Tuesday. Christie Miedema of the Clean Clothes Coalition noted via email on Tuesday that employees in Cambodia are allegedly owed$ 11.7 million in income.
An Adidas director told WWD in a speech on Tuesday that” We reject the complaints.” Adidas has taken a number of steps for more than 25 years to guarantee good and secure working conditions for employees in its supply network. Through the ongoing creation of payment systems, rewards, social programs, and various services, the Adidas Workplace Standards obligate our suppliers to gradually raise employer payment and living standards. Workers in our distributor factories typically earn significantly more disposable income than the corresponding legal minimum wage.
According to the statement, the company employs a global group of about 50 “experts” to make sure that its suppliers adhere to and uphold its workplace standards. Adidas audited more than 1,200 manufacturers ‘ factories last month. The statement read,” We have a punishment mechanism in place that can even result in the cancellation of the business relationship if our requirements are breached.”
When asked if Adidas was considering filing a lawsuit, an Adidas spokesman replied,” We do n’t have any more information to share at this time.”
Tuesday, advertising requests sent to Web Summit administrators were not promptly responded to. The company would not be open until Thursday, according to an automated response message.
Another ruse by The Yes Men targeted Adidas earlier this year involved the distribution of a fake press release alleging the appointment of co-chief executive officers to include both an employee of the Vietnamese factory and the union leader. The second component involved the fictitious debut of” Realitywear,” ethically sourced clothes, at a Berlin Fashion Week event. It was claimed that the fake variety had the backing of Pharrell Williams and Bad Bunny. Both programs were created to persuade Adidas to ratify the Earn Your Workers clause. The Yes Men refers to themselves as an “anti-corporate traditions- blocking team.”
Miedema added via email on Tuesday that among other initiatives, the Spend Your Workers coalition has kept in touch with Adidas representatives on various levels regarding the plan, including a public appeal and discussions between federation representatives and Adidas employees.
Another element of the ruse was the appearance of a person posing as Deejay Marshmello, who promoted the purported debut of” AdiVerse” —a virtual playground for garment workers. Deejay Marshmello, the real person, stated on Instagram that “whoever @websummit booked to do and accomplish interviews was no me,” but he did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. My legal team has reached out at# WebSummit to apologize to anyone who was duped by that idiot.
According to Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men, “roughly a thousand” people attended the lecture, and there were about ten editors present at the press conference that followed. Thread & Tits, an actor, also worked with others on the Lisbon program. We wanted to make this about not just this specific [alleged ] Adidas labor abuse case, but the entire issue of “modern” outsourcing, Bicholbaum said via email on Tuesday. We therefore began at the beginning and provided a thorough explanation of what outsourcing entails. We did n’t get to the funnier part with Marshmello and dancing and such until after everything had been laid out.